Rake



J. VAN VLlET May 16, 1933.

RAKE

Filed May 21, 1932 IN 1 'EN TOR.

cllkn Van Vii'e 60 A TTORNEY.

29 the rake, while when pushed alon the ground note like parts throughout the specification.

Patented May 16, 1933 I UNITED "STATE PATENT OFFICE Application filed. May 21, 1932. Serial 'No. 612,785.

This invention relates to improvements in' to lie flatupon the ground,'so as to remove hand rakes, the primary object of the inventrash or other accumulation therefrom in a tion being the provision of a hand rake which continued backward movement of the rake, will be self cleaning. the teeth automatically assuming a vertical A further object of the invention is to so position upon drawing the rake forward -;,5 construct the rake that waste matter may be without any other manipulation upon the freed and removed from the rake teeth while part of the operator. employing the rake in the usual manner, this Other objects of the invention will. appear construction being such as to avoid the necesas p the disclosure progresses. The drawing sity of employing individual spring fingers is intendedto merely indicate a possible em- 5 operating between the teeth to clean the same, bodiment of the invention. It is obvious that sliding teeth cleaner members or other clean the actual needs of manufacture may necessiing devices of similar nature which considertate certain mechanical changes. It is thereably increases the cost of rake manufacture fore not intended to limit the invention to the and also the weight of the rake. embodiment illustrated but rather to define 65 A still further object of the invention is-t'o such limits in the appended claims. mount the rake head upon itshandle in such For a more general understanding of the m nner ha i l op at in h usual w y invention attention is called to the drawing. I when drawn tQWaI'dS the Person p y g In this drawing likereference characters de- 0 away from the operator the'ra e head will Fi 1 i a t pla i f th rake tilt to bring its teeth parallel with the ground Figur 2 i id i w th r of,

and thus permit wiping offor removal of all Fi 3 i a ti on li 3+3 f Fig foreign matter therefrom. ure 1.

A still further object of the invention is the Figure 4 is an enlarged section on line :7

provision of means for normally holding by 4-4 of Figure 2. l resilient means the teeth perpendicular to the Fi 5 i a i ilar i s 'Figm-e lC plane of the rake hand B-- but showing the teeth latched on a horizontal A still further object of the invention is plane; the 'PI'OVlSlOIl Of it self cleaning rake in Figure 6 is a section on line the rake head may be swung to bring its teeth ure 4 into a plane parallel with the rake handle to Fi 7 i vi w f th le ve, 7 permit OI1Venien pa ng i g tgh Figure 8 is a cross sectional View of one I take, and to prevent anyone from being inf th (mpg v p '0 jured by he free ends Of the teeth, the head, Referring now to the drawing in detail, When in his p si i g locked ag numeral 1 designates the usual handle and Swinging movement Zthe Y-shaped support connected at the out- Allothel Object 0f the lnwntlon 13 170 P ward ends to the bearings 3. Revolvably vide means for locking the tooth bar in posi- Supported i id b i s r Sleeves 4, At 40 tion that the teeth Wil1 be at right angles the outward ends of said sleeves are attached to the caps 5 while at the inner ends of said sleeves Another oblect (lithe mventwn 13 the P is keyed the toothbar 6. Fastened to the Vision O E1 Fake which is adapted to p said tooth bar are a series of rake teeth 7. y p y Pushing it towards the Operator, Within each of the sleeves 4 is a leaf spring without going to the trouble of lifting the 8 whose free end 9 entersa slot 10 in the rake at each stroke. sleeveand normally keeps the sleeve in the Another object of the invention is to proposition as best seen in Figure 4 or when vide a rake having a tooth bar which is the teeth are at right angles to the handle. mounted to turn when the rake is pushed As the tooth bar 6 is keyed to the sleeves from the operator, thereby causing the teeth 4 therefore the said sleeves and tooth bar m0 any inward movement.

the ordinary will move in unison. \Vhen cleaning the teeth, on the forward stroke of the rake, the teeth when brought in contact with the ground will swing inwardly against the normal action of the spring in the direction of arrow A of Figure 4 and automatically relieve themselves of. all foreign matter which may adhere to the teeth, by the scraping action with the ground. Now when the rake is pulled towards the operator the teeth will spring back to their vertically operative position.

' Now when it is-desired to work the rake without allowing the teeth to swing inward- 1y a hook 11 which is pivoted toeach of the sleeves is moved down so that the forward end 12 engages with the top portion 13 of the set of outside teeth thus holding the tooth bar against revolving and consequently keep the teeth in a rigid vertical position. In Figure 2 the hook 11in full lines, shows the teeth 7 locked in a vertical position against Now when it is-desired to allow the teeth to swing inwardly as shown in dotted lines the hook 11 is swung backward on the sleeve as indicated indotted lines in the said figure .so the free to move. 7

When the rake is not in. use the teeth can be swung out of the way and kept in that position parallel with the handle so as to avoid accidental injury to anyone whomight teeth will be step on the teeth should same be exposed.

This safety feature is illustrated in Figure 5. As noted in this figure when the teeth are swung all the way back, the edge of the slot 10 in the sleeve 4t will engage with the free end 9 of the spring 8 and lock the said sleeve against rotation until manually relieved. As all the teeth move .in unison with the sleeve thus all the teeth will bekept out of the way. p p r It will thus be seen that I have provided a simple, eflicient and very useful device for raking loose leaves, grass or other matter. The rake is employed in the same manner as hand rake, being moved toward and away rom the operator, the tooth bar supported by its teeth always resting upon the ground during movement towards the operator to draw toward him the loose leaves, grass or other matter being raked up. Upon movement of the rake away from the operator, the tooth bar is customarily raised above the ground in order to avoid pushing any of the waste matter to be gathered in at the next movement of the rake, away from the operator. If however, the teeth become clogged with the waste matter being raked up, the tooth head may be held in engagement with the ground during the early part of the movement of the rake away from the operator. This engagement of the tooth head with the ground will cause the tooth head to turn against the action of the spring until ing a handle, a tooth supporting bar pivot ally supported by the handle, means for looking the tooth bar with its teeth in a plane parallel to the handle, means operable upon release of the locking means for automatically turning, the supporting bar to bring its teeth into a plane at right angles to the handle, and means including a latch to positively latch said teeth against movement from the last mentioned position.

2. In a rake of the class described, a pair of bearings, a handle, means to connect said handle to said bearings, sleeves revolvably supported in said bearings, a tooth bar keyed to the inner ends of said sleeves, said tooth bar supporting a series of teeth, and a spring in each of said bearings, the free ends of said springs passing into a slot in said sleeves and adapted to normally keep the said teeth at right anglesto said handle.

3. In a. rake of the "class described, a pair of hollow bearings, a handle, means to connect said handle to' said bearings, sleeves provided with slots revolvably supported in said bearings, a tooth bar keyed to the inner endsof said sleeves, said tooth bar supporting a seriesof teeth, and a leafspring in each of said bearings, the free ends of said springs passing into the slots in said sleeves and adapted to normally keep the said teeth perpendicular tothe'ground. I

'4. In a rake of the class described, a pair of bearings, a handle, meansto connect said handle to said bearings, sleeves revolvably supported in said bearings, a tooth bar keyed to the inner ends of said sleeves, said tooth bar supporting a series of teeth, a spring in each of said bearings, the free ends of said springs passing into a slot in said sleeves andadapted to normally keep the said teeth at right. angles to said handle, and means to latch said teeth against movement from the last mentioned position. v

. 5. In a rake of the class described, a pair of hollow bearings, a handle, means to connect said handle to said bearings, sleeves provided with slots revolubly supported in said bearings, a tooth bar keyed to the inner ends of said sleeves, said tooth bar supporting a series of teeth, a leaf spring in each of said position perpendicular to the 6. In a rake of the class described, a pair of bearings, a handle, means to connect said handle to said bearings, sleeves revolvably sup ported in said bearings, a tooth bar keyed to the inner ends of said sleeves, said tooth bar supporting a series of teeth, a spring in each of said bearings, the free ends of said springs passing into a slot in said sleeves and adapted to normally keep the said teeth at right angles to said handle, and means including said springs to latch said teeth in a position parallel to said handle.

7. In a rake of the class described, a pair of bearings, a handle, means to connect said handle to said bearings, sleeves revolvably supported in said bearings, a tooth bar keyed to the inner ends of said sleeves, said tooth bar supporting a series of teeth, a spring in each of said bearings, the free ends of said springs passing into a slot in said sleeves and adapted to normally keep the said teeth atright angles to said handle,'and means to latch said teeth against movement from the position of right angles to said handle, and means including said springs to latch said teeth in a position parallel to said handle.

8. In a rake of the class described, a pair of hollow bearings, a handle, means to connect said handle to said bearings, sleeves provided with slots revolvably supported in said bearings, a tooth bar keyed to the inner ends of said sleeves, said tooth bar supporting a series of teeth, a leaf spring in each of said bearings, the free ends of said springs passin g into the slots in said sleeves and adapted to normally keep the said teeth perpendicular to the ground, and means to latch said teeth parallel to said handle.

9. In a rake of the class described, a pair of hollow bearings, a handle, means-to connect said handle to said bearings, sleeves provided with slots revolvably supported in said bearings, a tooth bar keyed to the inner ends of said sleeves, said tooth bar supporting a series of teeth, a leaf spring in each of said bearings, the free ends of said springs passing into the slots in said sleeves and adapted to normally keep the said teeth perpendicular to the ground, and means to latch the said teeth in a position perpendicular to the ground, and means including said leaf spring to latch said teeth parallel to said handle.

10. In a device of the class described, a set of bearings, a sleeve revolvably fixed in said bearings, a tooth bar keyed to said bearings, a set of teeth in said tooth bar, a latch pivoted to each of said bearings, said latch adapted to engage with the upper part of said teeth to hold said teeth in a vertical position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN VAN VLIET. 

